A 45-year-old woman was stabbed to death before her Derbyshire home was destroyed by an explosion and fire, police have said.
Officers are treating the death of Shelley Saxton-Cooper as murder after a fire tore through the property in Riddings, near Alfreton, where husband Simon Saxton-Cooper was also found dead on Sunday.
Mr Saxton-Cooper, 50, died from smoke inhalation after the fire. Police said on Monday they believed the husband could have murdered his wife before the blaze.
Ch Supt Sunita Gamblin said: “We believe that Shelley, who was 45 years old, was wounded before the explosion and fire and we are treating her death as murder.
“Police, crime scene investigators and fire investigation specialists are working through the scene of the fire to find out exactly how it started and what happened. We don’t believe, at this time, that anyone else is involved.”
The cause of the blaze at the house on Valley View Road, Riddings, is not yet known and the police and fire services are conducting an ongoing investigation. A report into the deaths is being compiled for the coroner.
Police said they were called to the house shortly after 7.30am on Sunday and were working with the fire service to investigate the cause.
Paul Archer, 48, an off-duty firefighter who works at East Midlands airport and lives in an adjoining street, described how he made his way into the burning house.
“I was woken up by a loud noise. It didn’t sound like a massive explosion – it sounded like something big had been dropped,” he said.
After being called outside by his wife, he put on old firefighting equipment stored in his garage. “The flames started straight away,” he said. “One of the neighbours had got a key and they opened the back door.”
A dog escaped from the house as the door was opened and Archer went inside. “I made my way in shouting: ‘Can you hear me?’ The downstairs was really clear,” he said. “I got to the bottom of the stairs, shouting again, and made my way up to the top of the stairs. By this time the house was pretty well ablaze – the front bedroom door was on fire but I was shouting: ‘Hello, can anyone hear me?’”
Archer saw flames in a rear bedroom and feared the roof might cave in. He left the house via the front door as he heard the sirens of the first fire engines arriving.
Floral tributes were left at the scene, which remains cordoned off, as the investigation continues.
Julie Vallance, who has lived on Valley View Road for 20 years, paid tribute to the Saxton-Coopers, describing them as a “happy couple”.
